I have two very cool websites to share today!
Are you looking for a website to help with Common Core standards in math? Try http://www.scootpad.com/. The best part? It is FREE! Right now, they only have it available for Grades 1, 2, and 3. But, they say that K, 4, and 5 are coming soon. Seriously cool! The students earn coins and can spend them on rewards.
The second is something simple, http://steep.it/, is an internet tea timer. The screen gets gradually darker as the time is running out (like a cup of tea).
I got a great idea from The Library Patch Blog to post the 10 ten books that were checked out for the school year. It was pretty easy to get this information by running a report. The results don't really surprise me because these books were asked for OVER and OVER. The Bone books were never, ever in the library and I have 20 of them! So, here is our list (and YAY a Sunshine Reader is on there)!
QR codes are these funny looking squares you see everywhere:
This is my QR code. Go ahead, take out your phone, scan it. It gives my Name, (school) phone number, (school) address, (school) email, and this wonderful blog address. All of this information (except the blog) is public information they can look up on the district website if needed, but this is a nice way for parents to have all your information so they can contact you right from the smartphone if needed.
This one is for my Pre-K through 2nd grade teachers!!!!
I am excited about this with program with the little ones this year. I have been doing the Sunshine Reader program with 3rd through 5th graders, offering an ice cream party to those that read at least 3 books.
With these books I will be reading the books to the Pre-Kindergarten through 2nd graders. They will then have a voting ceremony at the end of the year with a special treat.
Here is an overview of each book:
This is a cute twist on the classic story about a Gingerbread Man who is trying to find the class who made him.
This story follows the theme "the grass is always greener." This could be taught with a unit on feelings as the fish's expressions throughout the book show them clearly.
"When Dirk Yeller scours the town for something to stop his itchin’ and twitchin’ and jumpin’ and rattlin’, no one seems able to help. But Sam, who’s been following Dirk all day—and who can sometimes be a little fidgety, too—knows the perfect solution..."
My son, a pronounced dinosaur lover, adores this book. It is a story about one of the animals that has survived through the age of the dinosaurs into modern times. The journey of a sea turtle is a magical one told throught the eyes of a turtle from a different era.
The story of one family and what the do when the lights go out. A great story about family and community.
A touching story about a cat and a dog that relied on each other to survive Hurricane Katrina. See the book trailer here. This is a good book to pair with a unit on severe weather or friendship.Visit the websites for the authors and illustrator:
Through reading a couple other library blogs I read about wordle a site which lets you input words to make a word collage. The more times you enter a word, the bigger it is. I can think of quite a few classroom applications for this.
- For the content areas you can have students make wordles of the important concepts and vocabulary words.
- For books you can create character trait maps based on one or more characters.
You can also input a website and it will make a wordle of the most used words of that site.
This was a great story about the underDOG working hard and making it to the top. It wasn't an accident or divine intervention. It teaches a lesson on working for what you want instead of having it handed to you.
RL: 5.0
RC: TBA
Lessons: Character Development, Problem/Solution, Cause/Effect
This is a cute story about Rufus, who desperately wants a dog, but his dad is 100% against him having it. So, his mother takes pity on him and buys him a guinea pig instead, which he is thoroughly embarrassed by.
Grade Level: 3.7
RC points: TBA (when I get to school and look it up)
Lessons: TBA
It is summer, the time when teachers are enjoying their families and time off, and regaining the idealism that comes with the beginning of the year. Fresh ideas that stem from enough rest, and this is mine. A way to keep the parents informed, a central place for teachers and students to come to get information on what is going on or resources from the media center. I am looking forward to making this blog a part of my weekly routine while I keep enjoying the best parts of my summer.
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